


an accidental visit

by willsolacepositivity



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Canon Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, I haven't written pjo fanfic in a w h i l e, Not Shippy, at least I think so, like.... a lot of angst, tw self isolation, uugh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 08:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27639920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willsolacepositivity/pseuds/willsolacepositivity
Summary: Nico Di Angelo has no place among the living, but Jason Grace tags on to his exit from it
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	an accidental visit

**Author's Note:**

> Part One of an interconnected canon-compliant angst trilogy. I haven't written PJO in a while, let's go!

“That was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen.” Jason’s words echoed in Nico’s head as he trudged up the dech of the _Argo II._ Jason seemed to always know what to say, he was the lifelong leader, and Jason knew what it was like to be different. His strange accent and swordfighter’s stance showed that. But he had never experienced what Nico had. 

He dimly heard Leo make a joke about “When did you start being buddies with Death Breath? Pipes, I’ve been replaced!” Nico wished he could say what he had seen that one night in the boiler room, Leo sobbing, pressing matches to his skin in an effort to get his flesh to burn, trying to sob, tears evaporating, murmuring about how he was a monster. But Leo had no idea that Nico had seen him, and the last thing Nico needed was more questions, or for anyone to hate him more. No, he would keep quiet until he died. And that was coming up soon. 

Nico knelt in the middle of his stables and pulled out the Mythomagic figurine of Hades he had kept with him since Percy had given it. It was a memento of Bianca, a shrine to his father, a slap in the face each time Nico thought of his old self. 

A long time ago, Nico had asked his father what would happen if instead of shadow travelling, he just stopped in the shadows and waited. 

_“Why, you don’t want that. Your spirit would stay in the shadow realm, and eventually you would come here permanently. Nico, it is a one-way process, and once you’re a part of the shadows you can never visit the mortal world again. Never attempt this. Understood?”_

Oh, Nico understood all right. He understood that he had never belonged here. Nico was from the forties, should be long dead, and everyone hated him now. Nico had seen the look on Jason’s face when he had confessed to Cupid, and heard the tone of Leo’s voice every time he said “Death Breath.” Even Hazel, who had died, was more alive than he was. 

Nico’s hand clenched around the figure, and his breath began to catch. His hands shook, and all Nico could here were his last breaths. Slowly, not to miss the midway point between the dead and the living, Nico started to fade. 

It had never happened so slowly before. Shadow travel took a few seconds, but now Nico felt the last mocking droplets of life drain from him. His fingers and feet were the first to begin to dissolve, and Nico felt his pulse and breath working overtime. HE wanted to chide his body- it would never win the fight.

“Nico! Are you- what?” He heard Jason’s voice.

“Bye.” 

“Wait!” Nico’s shoulders were already dissolving, so Jason’s hands passed through. In a 

frantic attempt, the son of Jupiter threw himself at Nico, who felt Jason’s life force being tied to the jump.

 _“No one else could do such a thing with their soul intact.”_ Hades had said. Nico couldn’t let Jason die, so he focused his strength to patch a second part onto the jump. In a panic, he picked the first place he thought of- Percy’s house.

The shadows didn’t want to give up their hold on Nico or Jason, and Nico felt the tug on Jason. No- he pushed forward despite the thick black fog that surrounded them. 

“Where are we? Neeks!” Jason called. Nico looked around, and could see nothing. He was fully corporeal again and could feel Jason’s frantic, sweaty hands gripping his arm.

“We are entering the shadows.”

“What? Why?” 

“Because _you_ had to show up at just the wrong time.” Nico gathered himself and gave one last push. Suddenly, the shadows broke through, and they tumbled out into the Jacksons’ living room.

“Where are we? What was that?” Jason got to his feet faster than Nico did and was looking around the room like a cornered animal. He supposed those wolf instincts had to rub off at some point.

“Well, I just pulled you out of the shadows, because I was trying to get here alone. Hades told me that if I could get my soul there, it would eventually drift to the Underworld for good.”

“Why would you want that?”

“Because why not? You wouldn’t even notice. I heard Piper and Annabeth gossiping about it- Camp Half-Blood barely noticed when I was gone, and Reyna told me that the Romans found me odd. I don’t belong anywhere.”

“Don’t say that!” Jason yelled.

“It’s true.” Nico scowled back. 

“What it-” The two boys looked up into the concerned face of Sally Jaskson. After a few seconds, she smiled. “Nico! It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. How’s the quest going? Any news about my son?” She noticed Jason. “Oh! You brought someone. Is it that Roman boy Percy told me all about over the phone? Who even lets a kid get a tattoo?” Sally shook her head. “Come here Nico. And… ah…. Jacob? I just made cookies!”

“I’m sorry, can I have a moment with Nico?” Jason asked.

“Oh, yeah! Totally.” Sally hurried out of the living room.

Nico turned to Jason. “Good job. Now, Sally’s going to be asking for me.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Jason leaned over a little bit. In the harsh apartment light, Nico could see that his face and arms were crisscrossed with scratches and bruises. Jason’s hair had grown out into a shaggy mess, and for a moment, his face convulsed in pain.

“Jason?”

“Aagh, sorry. All the concussions paying off. But Nico, _don’t you fucking dare_ try to fade out of existence or whatever you were doing. We need you.”

“But I’m not even part of the Seven!”

“Neither are Reyna or Gwen or Grover or Drew or Will Solace. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. We _like_ you, Nico.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Yeah, right!” Jason’s blue eyes were wide and honest. “We’re here for you, Nico.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Nico conceded. “I’ll… remain with you for now.”

“Great!” Jason moved to pat Nico on the shoulder, but evidently thought better of it. “Do you have enough energy to come back to the ship?”

“I need a few hours, to be honest. Taking us both out of the shadows was draining.” Nico plopped down on the nearby couch. The whole house smelled of Percy, which made it so much worse. 

“All right. I’ll go check with Mrs. Jackson to see if that’s okay.” Jason walked off to the kitchen. Nico let himself relax, and think. He couldn’t believe that he was that close to just coming over to the Underworld, in all effect vanishing from existence. No, Nico still didn’t believe that everyone on the _Argo II_ liked him, but Jason was right in a way. Nico was needed, if as an ambassador to Pluto more than anything. Besides, he couldn’t just leave Hazel like that. 

After a few minutes, Jason and Mrs. Jackson came into the room, holding three glasses of lemonade and a plate of blue chocolate chip cookies. It was funny how even without Percy, his presence was all throughout the room, from what looked like a sword make across the dresser to the blue food to the scuff marks from Nico, Percy, and Mrs. O’Leary’s visit. 

“Mrs. Jackson is the best!” Jason said. “Want some lemonade?”

“Sure.” Nico accepted the glass Jason held out and took a small sip. “I’m sorry about dropping in,” he said to Mrs. Jackson. “I had a little bit of a shadow-travelling miscalculation and needed somewhere safe, quick.

“No, no, it’s fine. Stay as long as you like is what I say. Any monsters heading towards us?”

“Not as far as I know.” Nico said. 

“How’s Percy doing?”

“Great!” Jason replied. “I’d never call a quest _fun,_ but Percy being on the crew livens things up a bit.” Jason and Sally chuckled, and even Nico smiled a bit. “Like Nico said, we mostly just need a rest stop.” The three of them talked for a little bit. Eventually, Mrs. Jackson had to go to work, and Jason just plopped down on the couch beside Nico.

“Are you sure there’s nothing you want to talk about?”  
“I’m okay.” Nico brushed off the other boy’s concern. “Just need a bit of a rest.”

"Okay, we can shadow travel back later. I'll just be right here in case you need me."

**Author's Note:**

> Ending explained in Part Three


End file.
